Monday, September 24, 2012

Using Bacteria to Clean Fracking Wastewater

Scientists at the University of Minnesota are using naturally-occurring bacteria found in porous silica materials to biodegrade contaminants in fracking wastewater. The technology originally was developed to remove agricultural pesticides from soil and water. The goal of the research is to allow the wastewater to be recycled and used to frack other wells, thereby significantly reducing the amount of water used by oil and gas producers in shale petroleum plays. The project is being funded in part by a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Partnerships for Innovation program. Read more...